Month: September 2024

September 2024

Friends, Foes or Something in Between

September 26, 2024 / Doing Divorce

“Mom, is Dad your friend?” she asked without notice or context as she sat next to me in the car. “What…? Like Facebook friends?” I responded quickly to buy some time for a second to process how best to handle this query. To be truthful, I had never really thought about it. We didn’t start out as friends. We started out as dating. Then we were spouses. Now we are exes. Ultimately our relationship failed. In the twelve years we were together, we never experienced the lightness and careless independence of being friends. I can go months without seeing or

Does It Hurt or Help to be Nice in a Divorce?

September 23, 2024 / Divorce Made Simple, Divorce Tips

Divorce does not have to be contentious. In fact, you could be making it harder for yourself (and your children) if you approach your divorce with revenge in your heart. Taking the high road is not always easy, but there are several reasons you may benefit from it: You can save money. If you and your spouse can be on good terms during your divorce, you will find it pays off. Not only will the process go a lot smoother for you emotionally, but you can also save money if you are able to stay out of court. Settlement is

Grandparents’ Visitation Rights in Nebraska

September 17, 2024 / Children, Divorce Made Simple

Grandparents can add a lot to a child’s life, especially when the child’s parents are divorced. Unfortunately, when one spouse divorces another, they often “divorce” their ex’s parents as well. In Nebraska, grandparents can go to court to request visitation rights for their grandchildren, but it can be an uphill battle since Nebraska requires very specific criteria to grant these rights. Nebraska’s grandparent visitation statutes allow a grandparent to petition for visitation only under the following conditions: One or both of the child’s parents are deceased. The child’s parents are divorced or in the process of getting a divorce. The

Pieces of Parenthood

September 13, 2024 / Doing Divorce

I laughed out loud more than once while Sasha opened gifts at her baby shower. “Thank goodness you gave a toy, otherwise the baby would only have boxes to play in!” “Will this baby nighttime sound machine drown out the crying?” “Will I get to wear sleep sacs to bed, too?” I sensed her funny acknowledgments serving to mask her mounting anxiety about the birth date fast approaching. For this soon-to-be first time mom, each and every bow untied brought her closer to the realization that her baby would soon be here. The enormity of how her life was about

Collaborative Divorce vs. Traditional Litigated Divorce

September 9, 2024 / Divorce Made Simple

Collaborative divorce is an alternative method for couples facing divorce. Through the collaborative process, spouses pledge to resolve all issues without court intervention. In a collaborative divorce, spouses focus on settlement with the goal to minimize the negative economic, social, and emotional consequences that families face in the traditional adversarial divorce process. In a traditional divorce, the process to reach a settlement agreement is done so through the lens of the adversarial process, with spouses postured as opponents and case strategy developed to prepare for trial. As such, even when a case settles without a trial, both spouses walk away

The Bigger Benefit

September 5, 2024 / Doing Divorce

He is free-spirited. He is spontaneous. He doesn’t use his calendar to track activities. He lives his life with confidence that the next step forward will take him where he needs to be – wherever that may be. His thoughts are mostly the after kind. She is organized. She is predictable. She is meticulous in her planning and preparation. Her life is well-managed in all its details. She has already started filling out her 2018 planner along with an outline of goals. You know the story – opposites attract. They fall in love. Wed. Then divorce. Now they find themselves